A Hard Journey
by books-n-cookies
Summary: DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
1. Prologue

**As I'm writing this, I'm beyond mad :-( I had chapter one written, but I can't type it up because I lost it! ughh.. so now I either have to find it tonight, or ten days from now. :/ so i may just re-write the whole thing if I can't find it...**

**But anyhow- back to the story! I hope you enjoy it! **

**Disclaimer: Erin Hunter owns Warriors, not me.**

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Hollyleaf gazed sadly into the pool, her black starry fur reflected back at her. As she continued to gaze into the water's depths, another cat joined her, and laid her tail on Hollyleaf's shoulder in a comforting gesture. When Hollyleaf finally realized who it was, she turned around, excitement shining in her eyes.

"Honeyfern!" she cried out excitedly as she saw her friend. Then her face changed from one of happiness to one of sorrow. "This means I'm really dead then, doesn't it?"

Honeyfern sadly shook her head. "Welcome to StarClan, Hollyleaf. It's not really as bad as you think, I mean there's always prey, it's always warm, there's no leafbare and-" Honeyfern stopped talking as she realized that Hollyleaf wasn't listening. "Hollyleaf, what's the matter?" she mewed quietly. She paused for a moment, and when she got no answer she continued, "You really don't want to be here, do you?"

Hollyleaf sighed. All of her thoughts were swimming around in her head. She was so confused, and the thought of being dead just sent her head spinning again. "Well, I guess I'm not very thrilled about being here. But I think it's probably better than being in ThunderClan right now, especially after the Gathering a couple nights ago." She cringed at the memory of that night. "Honeyfern, what was I thinking? I know Squirrelflight didn't mean any harm to us, but what her and Leafpool did was against the warrior code, and they lied to their clan, and and…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Honeyfern looked at her, her eyes filled with understanding and remorse. _This is a cat that didn't deserve to die, _Honeyfern thought to herself. _I'll have to talk to Bluestar about…_ she shook her head, driving the though away. _Not now,_ she told herself. "Hollyleaf, what you did may not have been the best choice, but no one in StarClan blames you. Leafpool and Crowfeather broke the warrior code. Squirrelflight lied to Brambleclaw. Eventually the secret would've gotten out, but maybe revealing at a Gathering was too much at once."

Hollyleaf looked at the pool of water again. "I guess, but now I feel that my actions caused a lot of pain that wasn't necessary, especially between Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight. And every clan probably thinks that ThunderClan cats tell lies. Oh Honeyfern, there has to be a way to fix this!" Hollyleaf turned to Honeyfern, a pleading look shining in her eyes.

Honeyfern sadly looked back at her friend. "There may be a way to help your news not have such a hard toll on ThunderClan, but not even StarClan is powerful enough to change what has happened. We can only watch it run its course, and possibly help those that have been affected by it to cope with it. Both Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw have a hard path ahead of them, and hopefully the can forgive each other when they reach the end."

Hollyleaf sighed. "You're right. But now I feel guilty about all the chaos I caused."

"Don't worry about it. After time, it will just seem like a bad mistake." Honeyfern turned away from the puddle. "I'm guessing you haven't even explored all of StarClan yet! I'll show you around some."

"Sure," Hollyleaf would do anything to stop thinking about what she had done, and the trouble it had caused. Bounding off after her friend, she gave the starry puddle one last glance before she raced off into the trees. As she left, the stars in the puddle continued to sparkle and shine, casting a soft glow onto the forest.

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**Okay so that was really short... but please tell me what you thought of it and review! thanks :) **

**Did you see where I got the name of the title? It's in there somewhere! See if you can find it! It hopefully won't be very hard to find.**


	2. Chapter 1

**So I found Chapter 1 and part of Chapter 2 last night! Haha it was on my desk above my computer… :) My room is pretty disorganized, but that was really bad. But now I can update it! I typed up Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 today on the plane, and I'm working on Chapter 3 right now. Hopefully I'll get it up by Sunday.**

**But now, please enjoy Chapter 1! And don't forget to review afterwards! Thanks!**

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"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a meeting!"

The familiar summonings awoke Squirrelflight. As she got up, shaking moss from her pelt, she was about to call out to Brambleclaw when she stopped. _He won't want to talk to me, _she thought miserably. Ever since the horrible Gathering a few nights ago when Hollyleaf revealed that Squirrelflight and Leafpool had lied, he wouldn't even look at Squirrelflight. She padded out of the warriors den by herself, noticing that almost everyone was avoiding her.

As she entered the clearing, she looked around the cats gathered to see where Brambleclaw was. He was sitting next to Sorreltail and Brackenfur, only a couple fox lengths away from her. Suddenly he turned, as if he knew someone was staring at him. As he looked at Squirrelflight, his eyes hardened, then filled with sorrow. Before she could speak, he turned away from her.

Sighing, she went to sit next to Poppyfrost and Cinderheart, who were looking around with puzzled glances. They looked up as Squirrelflight approached, and called out a greeting.

"Squirrelflight, do you know why Firestar called a meeting?" Poppyfrost looked again at the Highledge, her green eyes questioning.

Squirrelflight shook her head. "I have no idea. Could today be Toadkit and Rosekit's apprentice ceremonies? They're about 6 moons old now."

No, I don't think so," Cinderheart replied. The grey she-cat continued to stare up at the Highledge, where Firestar was standing. "it's probably too early for Foxpaw and Icepaw to get their warrior names today, too." She glanced at Squirrelflight, then mewed quietly, "Could it possibly be about Leafpool and the Gathering?"

Poppyfrost looked at Cinderheart and replied "But why now? It happened a couple of days ago…" she trailed off when they saw Leafpool emerge from the medicine cat's den and cross the clearing to join Firestar on the Highledge. As she walked through the crowd of cats, most moved away, giving the brown tabby a path. Spiderleg hissed menacingly at Leafpool as she passed, but was cuffed over the ear by Dustpelt.

"Oh no," Squirrelflight murmured. She knew what was coming, and from Cinderheart's and Poppyfrost's shocked mews, they knew too.

"Cats of ThunderClan, Leafpool would like to make an announcement." Firestar had a look of dull pain in his normally bright green eyes. For the past couple of days, his eyes had been empty and dull.

Squirrelflight looked in horror at her father. She had heard stories about what had happened to Bluestar after she found out about Tigerstar's betrayal, and it looked as if this secret was having the same effect on him.

As Firestar stepped back from the ledge, Leafpool stepped forward to speak. "As you know, Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze are my kits, not Squirrelflight's." she paused for a moment, and while she did, Squirrelflight glanced at Lionblaze and Jayfeather. Both toms were looking at their mother, but each had a different expression. Lionblaze had a look of fury in his eyes, while Jayfeather only had a look of sorrow. _He must be thinking of Hollyleaf_, she thought. She couldn't resist the temptation of looking at Brambleclaw, but he was staring up at Leafpool, his face expressionless.

She turned back to Leafpool as she began speaking again. " You also know that Crowfeather was my mate." She paused again before she continued. "I know I broke the warrior code, so I must be punished. So I have decided to step down as ThunderClan's medicine cat. Jayfeather will now be your medicine cat, not me." As Leafpool finished speaking, she leapt down from the Highledge.

"But Leafpool, where will you go now?" Mousefur called out. Squirrelflight looked on in surprise. The cranky brown elder seemed concerned about Leafpool, and it was unlike her to ask about that.

"Since when did Mousefur care about Leafpool being our medicine cat?" Cinderheart muttered under her breath. Squirrelflight looked at Cinderheart, and was surprised to see anger in the grey she-cat's eyes. _Why is Cinderheart so upset? _Squirrelflight thought. _Maybe it's because they're good friends._

While Squirrelflight had been thinking to herself, she realized Leafpool was speaking, and almost missed her sister's reply. "I plan to leave ThunderClan and possibly-"

"No! Leafpool! Please stay!" Sandstorm begged, coming out of the crowd to stand beside her daughter. "This is your home."

Leafpool looked at her mother, her eyes full of sadness. "ThunderClan is no longer a home for me. I do not belong here anymore. So I will leave and live as a loner somewhere." She placed her muzzle on Sandstorm's shoulder. Then, turning and addressing ThunderClan as a whole, she mewed. "Please don't blame Jayfeather for my mistakes. Good-bye, and may StarClan light your paths."

And with those words she turned and headed through the camp's entrance.

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So that's Chapter 1. Hopefully it isn't too long! :)


	3. Chapter 2

**Now this chapter is from Brambleclaw's point of view. Well, it's not going to have "I saw" but it'll be from his view, bus still in 3****rd**** person. Okay that's kind of confusing, but I hope it sort of makes sense! I'll probably switch back and forth between him and Squirrelflight, and maybe StarClan will appear in a couple of chapters… Okay I should probably stop talking now. So now enjoy Chapter 2!**

As Leafpool disappeared through the tunnel, Squirrelflight yowled, "No! Leafpool! Come back!" then raced off after her sister.

As Leafpool had been talking, it had started to rain. It fell down as a light drizzle at first, but as she left, it began to pour. Brambleclaw looked up at the rain-cloud filled sky, shaking raindrops out of his eyes. It seemed as if StarClan was crying for all that had happened in the past days.

Throughout Leafpool's announcement, Brambleclaw had sat there, staring up at her, wondering, _Why didn't Squirrelflight tell me all of this? Why didn't they trust me? _As he thought about it more, he had a horrible suspicion. _Leafpool probably thought Tigerstar was still meeting me! She probably thought he would make me tell the Clan._

Brambleclaw had thought about that idea over and over again and still couldn't bring himself to accept the truth. He had always believed Squirrelflight. _But she lied to me, _he thought miserably to himself. _I believed her for all that time. I trusted her._ He had to laugh at that. For once, it was him not trusting Squirrelflight, instead of her not trusting him.

During the meeting, he had noticed Squirrelflight staring at him, but he refused to look at her. He didn't want to talk to her, at least not for awhile. Brambleclaw still felt the shock of what Hollyleaf had revealed at the Gathering. In fact, it felt like the whole clan was in shock. Firestar had been talking with Graystripe and Sandstorm a lot, and would include Brambleclaw in some of the conversations. It was mainly about what they should do with Leafpool. Firestar wanted to do nothing, but Graystripe believed some punishment had to happen. Brambleclaw guessed that leaving could be considered punishment.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked back up at the Highledge to see that Firestar was calling out to the clan. "We need to send a search patrol out for them! This weather could quickly turn bad, and anything could happen if their alone in the forest. Brambleclaw, you can take Cloudtail, Thornclaw, Birchfall, and Hazeltail. I will lead another patrol with Sandstorm, Graystripe, Cinderheart, and Spiderleg. My patrol will head towards the ShadowClan boundary. Brambleclaw, yours will head towards the WindClan boundary. Let's go!"

With that spoken, Firestar leapt off the Highledge and headed towards the camp's entrance, gathering his patrol as he went. Brambleclaw too headed over towards Firestar, and his patrol soon joined him.

"What should we do if we find them?" Brambleclaw looked at Firestar. He thought they would probably bring them back to camp, but he wanted to make sure.

"If you find them, bring them back to camp. Leaving the clan is not a wise choice, so just make sure Leafpool comes back." Firestar glanced at his patrol. "Is everyone ready?"

All the cats nodded. "Then let's go." Without another word, they all raced through the barrier and into the forest.

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**Oh wow this is really short.... Sorry about that! :/ I couldn't think of anything else to put in this chapter, so I ended it. The next chapter will be better! Hopefully I'll have it up by Tuesday. Please review! Thanks :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**Here is chapter 3 :) enjoy! Chapter 4 should be up soon...**

**This is pretty sad i have to put a disclaimer here but....**

**Disclaimer: I do not own warriors.**

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Squirrelflight raced blindly through the forest, almost crashing into trees and bushes. The only thing on her mind was finding her sister. _I must find her! _She thought determinedly. _Especially before she crosses a border! I just can't lose her! _The thought of losing her sister was too much to bear. Just thinking about that made Squirrelflight run faster to find Leafpool.

Squirrelflight had picked up Leafpool's trace heading towards the Moonpool, and also towards WindClan territory. She felt a flash of fear at Leafpool joining WindClan, but she calmed down once she realized that it would probably not happen. At the Gathering, Crowfeather had told all the clans he didn't love Leafpool anymore.

Stopping for a moment beneath an oak tree, Squirrelflight noticed that Leafpool's scent was getting stronger. _I must be catching up to her,_ Squirrelflight thought excitedly. As she started padding through the forest again, this time much slower, she thought more about what she would say to Leafpool once she caught up to her. Would she want to come back? Where was she planning to go?

_She can stay with ThunderClan, _Squirrelflight thought. _Even if she doesn't want to be a medicine cat anymore, there will always be a place for her in ThunderClan._

As Squirrelflight padded past another oak tree, she went around it to find Leafpool standing on a ledge, looking out into the forest towards the Moonpool and beyond it. She took a tentative step forward, not wanting to scare her sister.

"Leafpool?" Squirrelflight padded a little closer to her sister as she spoke. "Leafpool, what are you doing?"

Startled, Leafpool whirled around, then relaxed when she realized it was Squirrelflight. "Oh Squirrelflight!" she mewed as she rushed over towards her sister. "I'm so scared! I don't think leaving ThunderClan is the right choice, but I don't know what else to do. Most of the clan hates me now." She hung her head as she thought of her clan.

"Leafpool, ThunderClan is still your home. Why can't you stay? Other cats have had kits with another cat from a different clan, you'll be fine. Besides, living as a loner will be too dangerous." Squirrelflight looked into Leafpool's amber eyes.

Leafpool sighed. "But they weren't _Medicine Cats._ I am! It goes completely against the warrior code in so many ways. There's no way I could continue being a medicine cat for ThunderClan."

"I guess you're right," Squirrelflight muttered. "But couldn't you still live with ThunderClan? You could train as a warrior! I could help you learn everything, and it wouldn't be too hard for you to learn the skills. Please Leafpool?"

Still looking uncertain, Leafpool replied, "I'm not sure Squirrelflight. First I'm going to go to the Moonpool and see what StarClan has to say about this, and my future. Then maybe I'll come back."

Squirrelflight purred happily. "You will be coming back to ThunderClan." She looked back at Leafpool. "Could I come with you to the Moonpool? I'll just stand at a distance. I don't want to go back to camp, and I've come too far to lose you again."

"Of course you can come with me Squirrelflight," Leafpool flicked her tail contentedly. "I wouldn't mind the company. Let's go, so we can be back quicker."

Before they headed out of the clearing, Squirrelflight stopped, her fur bristling in alarm. "We're not over the border with WindClan, are we?"

Leafpool looked puzzled. "No, we haven't crossed it yet. Why?"

"Because we're not alone," Squirrelflight mewed. "I think we're being followed, maybe by a patrol. Should we wait for them to catch up?"

As Leafpool was about to reply, another cat entered the clearing, followed by three others. It was Cloudtail, Brambleclaw, Hazeltail, and Thornclaw. Cloudtail was leading, and stopped as he saw the two she-cats. "Leafpool!" he exclaimed. "And Squirrelflight's with you!"

"Yes, I just found her." Squirrelflight told Cloudtail. "Did Firestar send out a patrol looking for us?"

Brambleclaw stepped forward, his amber eyes showing no expression. "Yes, he sent out two patrols," he mewed cooly. "We were sent to bring Leafpool back. And I'm guessing we should bring you back too."

"But Leafpool can't go back right now!" Squirrelflight exclaimed. "She's heading to the Moonpool to talk to StarClan. Then she'll come back."

"Then we will escort her there, and then bring her back to camp. Hazeltail, go find Firestar's patrol and tell them we found Leafpool. Take Squirrelflight with you, and bring her back to camp afterwards. Thornclaw, Cloudtail, and I will bring Leafpool to the Moonpool and back once she's done," Brambleclaw announced to the patrol.

"No!" Squirrelflight mewed angrily. "_I'm_ going with Leafpool to the Moonpool. _You _can go tell Firestar's patrol I found Leafpool."

Shocked, Brambleclaw just retorted, "Fine then. But you have to be back by moonhigh or I'll be back. Hazeltail, you can stay with them. We'll go find Firestar's patrol." Without another word, he turned around and raced into the undergrowth, followed by Thornclaw and Cloudtail.

Leafpool looked at Hazeltail and Squirrelflight. "I guess we can keep going now. We're almost there." She headed towards the stream by the border, which was now in sight. Together the three she-cats headed upwards towards the Moonpool, to find out what StarClan was going to say about everything that had happened. _Please don't be angry with me, _Leafpool thought to herself. _I regret my choices so much now. Don't make me leave ThunderClan!_

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**Sorry if that seemed short, but it was late when i was typing it and i needed to get off. But Chapter 4 will be longer! :) **


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